Russia passes law banning ‘propaganda’ against childbearing to tackle demographic decline

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Russian MPs in the Duma lower house of parliament voted unanimously in favour of the draft bill, which would apply to materials online, in media, advertising and in films that promote “rejection of childbearing”. — AFP pic

MOSCOW, Nov 13 — Russian MPs yesterday passed in the final third reading controversial legislation banning “propaganda” of choosing not to have children, the latest measure targeting what Moscow depicts as Western liberal ideas.

Facing an ageing population and low birth rates, Moscow is seeking to reverse a demographic slump—accentuated by its military offensive on Ukraine—that threatens its economic future.

MPs in the Duma lower house of parliament voted unanimously in favour of the draft bill, which would apply to materials online, in media, advertising and in films that promote “rejection of childbearing”.

The bill targets “destructive content” that promotes a “conscious” rejection of having children.

The bill’s authors have said it will not be used as punishment for “a personal choice or lifestyle” but only for promoting such a lifestyle, although it is unclear how this would be differentiated in practice.

Violations would be punishable by fines up to 400,000 rubles ($4,000) on individuals and up to five million rubles for businesses. The bill also includes a provision to deport foreigners found guilty of disseminating the banned information.

“This is a fateful law... Without children, there will be no country. This ideology will lead to people stopping giving birth to children,” the Duma’s speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said ahead of the vote.

He also said the legislation was about “protecting citizens, primarily the generation growing up, from information spread in the media space that negatively affects the development of personality”.

This is “so new generations of our citizens grow up orientated towards traditional family values”, he said.

Nina Ostanina, a Communist Party MP who heads the Duma committee on family policy, said the bill aims to “guard our youth from unnecessary ideologies”.

The legislation will now be considered by the upper house of parliament on November 20, before coming before President Vladimir Putin, who is expected to sign it into law.

It comes on top of existing bans on “propaganda” of LGBTQ relationships or changing gender.

Adoption ban

The Duma also unanimously passed legislation in the third reading banning foreigners living in countries that allow gender reassignment from adopting Russian children.

The bill is aimed at stopping Russian children from being able to legally change gender.

Moscow has long portrayed itself as a bulwark against liberal values, but that trend has hugely accelerated since the Kremlin launched its Ukraine offensive, further rupturing ties with the West.

The bill would ban adoption by citizens of countries that authorise “the change of sex by medical intervention, including with the use of medicine”, or allow individuals to change their gender on official identity documents.

Since 1993, foreigners have adopted 102,403 children from Russia, Volodin said, warning that “Western policy towards children is destructive.”

Russia previously banned all US adoptions in 2012 with a bill named after a Russian toddler who died of heat stroke in 2008 after his adoptive American father forgot him in a car.

Russia has created an inhospitable environment for LBGTQ people for years. In July 2023, it banned the “international LGBT movement” as extremist and made gender reassignment illegal.

Putin himself has repeatedly mocked people who have undergone gender reassignment as well as LGBTQ people. — AFP